Sehun freezes.

“No,” he responds bluntly.

“Please.” I trail behind him. “I promise I’ll stay out of your way. Just let me hang out here every Thursday.”

He whirls around in shock to face me. “Why? What do you want?”

“Please, please, please, Sehun,” I beg. “I promise I won’t disturb you at all. I’ll sit in the storage closet. Just please let me be here.”

“What are you playing at?” Sehun growls, sticking his face into mine. “If you think you can try and use this to sabotage me, don’t even bother. I’ll get you expelled.”

“I’m not, okay? Can you just-,” I grit my teeth. We are standing so close our torsos are mere inches apart. “Sehun... I’ll do anything. We can stay enemies or whatever, okay? But just let me do this. Please.”

Sehun looks at me for a long moment. His face is partially obscured by the darkness of the room. Only a broad ray of moonlight illuminates half of his face.

Then his eyes flicker downward. A faint smile curves his lips upward.

“You’re wearing my cardigan,” he says.

My eyes widen as I look down. “!” I swear. “I must’ve grabbed it on my way out of my dorm on accident- I was in a hurry- I thought this was my own cardigan but now that I look at it it’s way too big and I don’t know how I could’ve just realized this but here I am and-,”

I abruptly cut myself off as I realize that Sehun is watching me with a smirk on his face.

“Sorry,” I mutter. “I’ll take it off.”

“Don’t,” he utters.

My eyes are determinedly avoiding his. By chance, our gazes meet each other’s as I glance up, and we both quickly look away at the same time.

Finally, Sehun clears his throat. “Fine,” he says, looking to the side. “You can join. But let’s establish some base rules.”

I exhale. “Thank you-,”

“First rule of Astronomy Club: don’t talk about Astronomy Club.”

“What, is this Fight Club?” I snort, but Sehun cuts me off with a look.

“Two: we can each other up outside this room, but the moment we step in here, we can’t mess with each other.”

“That sounds good.”

“And three: don’t talk to me in here.”

“Deal.”

I spend the rest of the night doing my homework as Sehun fumbles with some strange box machine in the corner. It dawns on me that his little lucky charm- the same one that is currently at the bottom of the lake and apparently the cause of Sehun’s injury- was in the shape of a telescope.

Huh. Interesting.

Does it have sentimental value? Who knows? Who cares?

I, for one, do not.

Before I leave, I toss Sehun’s cardigan back to him.

“Thanks,” I say, and Sehun gives me a tight nod.

“Mihi, do you have work today?” Fei asks the first thing in the morning.

I blink. “Uh, yeah-,”

“Ditch. Hyuna’s throwing a party tonight. This is your real debut.”

“Wait, what?”

Suzy, Fei, Jia, and Min are circled up around me, wearing hard, determined expressions (except for Suzy, who looks more concerned than anything). I peer back at them in confusion.

“Look, you’re well-known right now, not popular,” Min explains. “Remember what Fei said about having 15 minutes of fame? Yours are about to be up. Tonight, at this party, you’re going to truly establish your rep.”

I wearily rub my temples. Oh, god. Is this really necessary? I have homework to do, too...

Suddenly, someone slams into my shoulder, and if Jia and Suzy hadn’t caught me, I would’ve planted face-first onto the cobblestoned courtyard floor.

“Whoops,” Krystal trills, smirking. Irene, Wendy, Victoria, and Sulli are standing behind her, sneering.

“I know you have no coordination whatsoever, but at least try to watch where you’re going,” I snap. Jia, Fei, Suzy, and Min burst into giggles behind me as an ugly expression forms on Krystal’s face.

“Stop acting like you’re the when you’re just a poor loser with makeup on,” she hisses. “You think you’re the because you’re hot now? Don’t even think that you’re on our level.”

“Whoa, Krystal thinks you’re hot, Mihi,” Suzy gasps. “Looks like Sehun’s not the only thing she’s thirsty for. Or is it Kai this week?”

“Oh, !” Jia cackles, and I snort.

“Who are you to be talking?” Wendy says, stepping forward. “How does it feel to have Krystal’s sloppy seconds?”

Suzy’s face tightens and I see Min clench her fists behind us. Fei and Jia looks like they’re ready to pounce on Wendy.

Krystal gives Wendy a satisfied look and then throws a smug simper at Suzy.

“I’ll see you tonight,” Krystal calls as she flounces away with her posse.

A burning feeling of resentment is rising up in me, tearing at my insides.

“Oh my ing god,” Suzy exhales, her body trembling with anger. “I ing hate her-,”

“Krystal’s absolutely disgusting,” Fei growls. “I hate her. That snobby, conceited-,”

“What was she talking about?” I murmur in Min’s ear.

Min shakes her head. “Krystal, Sehun, Mark, Suzy... they all have massive beef.”

She doesn’t say anymore, and I feel like it’s not the right time for me to ask her to elaborate. This probably ties back into what Mark was saying- how he despises Oh Sehun and his friends, no matter what. Sehun is incredibly contemptful of Mark, Suzy, and the rest of us, too- especially so.

But this incident has confirmed one thing for me. It is a reminder, a reassertion.

This is why I wanted to become popular. This is why I wanted to show them all up, prove them all wrong.

So fine. I’ll go to the party tonight- and better yet, I’ll have an absolute blast.

And in the front of my mind- whenever I think of all of them, with their stuck-up attitudes and distant personalities- is an overarching figure; someone who stands for every single horrible, miserable thing about this goddamn school, is one person:

Oh Sehun.

Suddenly, Suzy is tackled by a tall, lean figure.

“Hey, honey bear,” Mark grins, planting a kiss on her cheek. JB and Jackson are behind him. “What did I miss?”

I look past Mark at JB and give him a weary look.

The entire school is fawning over Oh Sehun.

Which isn’t unusual, but today, everyone’s being a million times more obnoxious about it.

I get it, okay? He tore his meniscus and now he’s out of soccer for the whole season. Trust me, I felt guilty, too (of course, I would never let Sehun learn that. Especially since I may or may not have been the cause of his injury).

But the difference is that I’m not shoving colossal plushy “Get Well Soon!” teddy bears or massive Swiss chocolate boxes or any... other services at him (I’m pretty sure Han Soomin wasn’t referencing homework help when she was leaning over his desk with half her shirt ed and asking if she could do anything for him). Even the teachers are waiting on him hand and foot. Mrs. Hwang herself brought him sparkling water from the cafeteria when he mentioned that he was thirsty.

And of course, Sehun and his friends are eating this all up. After some girl delivered a hand-written “Hope you Feel Better!” card to Sehun, he told her, in a somber tone, “It’s not such a big deal. I’m just disappointed that I’ve let down my teammates like this,” as his friends cracked up behind him and I groaned.

The only things I’ve given him today are surly looks. To which he responds with wide smirks.

Both of us are ignoring everything that happened last night. I’m half convinced that the Astronomy Club is some hallucination I had last night, or maybe a bizarre nightmare caused by my messed-up, Sehun-filled psyche.

Whatever.

All of this wasn’t that big of a problem.

Until Sehun announced in the middle of History of the Arts, “Mr. Kim, I’m hungry. I would get food, you know, but...,” He stares pointedly at his foot.

“Oh, I’ll go get something for you!” Mr. Kim says, standing up. “What would you-,”

“No, no,” Sehun laughs, shaking his head. “You don’t have to go! It’s fine! But is it okay if Mihi goes to the cafeteria instead? She said she would buy me chips.”

My jaw drops in indignation as I whirl around to face Sehun. He is looking at me with a self-satisfied smile on his face, as his friends snicker behind him.

“Of course!” Mr. Kim looks at me. “You can go, Mihi. Thanks for being a supportive friend.”

Friend?! “No, it’s okay, Mr. Kim,” I smile. “I don’t want to miss a second of your teaching.”

“No, I insist! Poor Sehun.”

On my way out, Sehun murmurs, “I like kettle-cooked chips the best.”

“Go yourself,” I hiss back.

I angrily stomp down the hallways to the cafeteria. God, this so badly. I can’t believe Sehun’s managed to screw me over again once more-

“Mihi!”

I turn around. JB is ambling down the stairs, big red Beats headphones around his neck. When I see him, I grin.

“Care to make a trip to the cafeteria with me?” I ask.

“Wow. You’re the last person I would’ve expected to ditch class and go get food.”

“It’s not by choice, trust me. Sehun, that conniving bastard, made me get food for him. It’s a long story,” I add, when I see the confused expression on JB’s face.

He shrugs. “Hey, it’s alright. I was on my way back to Calculus. I won’t be missing much.”

“Dude. We have a quiz today.”

“Oh well.”

I give him a look, and he bursts into laughter. “Chill, Mihi. Live a little. I can make up the quiz later.”

I bite my tongue to refrain from chastising him. There’s really no point. And besides, I’m happy he’s coming with me. So far, I’ve learned that Mark’s the goofiest, Suzy’s the sweetest, Fei’s the sassiest, Jia’s the toughest, Min’s the savviest, and Jackson’s the funniest. But JB is probably the most cool to be around. I feel comfortable around him.

“So what did that want again? Barbeque potato chips?” JB asks.

“No, kettle chips. Where did you get barbeque potato chips from?”

JB’s eyebrows shoot up. “Oh, kettle? Whoops.”

“This is what happens when you skip Calculus.”

    “Yeah, yeah,” JB chuckles. “Hey, are you pumped for the party tonight?”

    “Well... I guess, yeah.”

    “Hyuna’s parties are fun, but I warn you, they’re the craziest. Remember what I was telling you about Bom? That happened at Hyuna’s party.”

    I gag. “Ew. I’ll make sure not to do anything like that.”

    “Yeah, please don’t. I have a pristine mental image of you. Don’t ruin it.”

    “Oh, no,” I gasp, clutching my heart. “What ever will I do if Im Jaebum thinks I’m weird?”

    “Don’t say my full name! It makes me sound like a grandpa!”

    “Mhm. A grandpa who plays basketball and skips Calculus.”

"Shut up!"

A/N: hey today was actually an okay day

and okay guys i have a problem.... i miss writing action/thriller stories so much... like high school AU fluff is cute but my heart.... pines... for a "classified accounts" sequel......

but like idk what groups to use i've already used 3 of my bias groups lol and i wanna make the main character a high schooler and i yeah but we'll see